Issues with pre - 70's 318 in a 73 Duster

Is this is a very early 318 LA, not a 318 Poly....?

You can make and put a new timing pointer anywhere that is visible, and make a new mark with the TDC tool; the mark can be just a simple piece of metal. Unless you want all original stuff.....

As said, you can make a long hose... just make sure it is supported well.

And using a late 60's or 70's damper with the old hardened rubber in it is a poor idea IMHO... it will more likely fail and also not damp out the crank's high frequency internal vibrations with hardened, cracked rubber, so the damper should be new or rebuilt if you want the original piece. So it can all be changed if desired.

The major vibrations due to engine imbalance (that we could feel) are not balanced out by the 318 damper to that is not a factor.

BTW, OP, since you have a '67 engine, the crank register hole in the back for the torque converter snout is pretty likely going to be smaller than the '68 and later ones. So that may be another issue if you are going with a later trans/TC.